Excluding singers, women in jazz haven’t had an easy time making their way to the front of the stage. There are of course the likes of Mary Lou Williams, Jaimie Branch, Geri Allen and Alice Coltrane. But up until recently, female jazz artists have been few and far between in the male-dominated and at times rather sexist genre.

Peter Thomas in Orbit

In Germany they have their own Michel Legrand: he’s called Peter Thomas! His film music is often eccentric and it has left its mark on a whole generation of viewers in the 60s and 70s, to the point where he’s often been cited and sampled by numerous young pop groups since the 90s. The cult composer passed away on 17 May 2020. We had met him three years earlier, at the dawn of his 92nd birthday.

Billie Holiday, the Dark Blues

A soul drenched in blues, a broken heart and a battered body, Billie Holiday is still the ultimate representation of silk-laced suffering. A century after her birth, Lady Day is still undeniably the most iconic singer in the history of jazz music.